holidays Archives - Page 8 of 8 - Bone and Sickle

Frau Perchta, the Belly-Slitter

December 9, 2019 boneandsickle Austria, Christmas, EPISODE, folk tales, folklore, Germanic, Germany, Grimm, history, holidays, Krampus, legends, Middle Ages, mumming, mythology, pagan, paganism, Perchta, Twelfth Night, witchcraft, witches

Frau Perchta, sometimes known as “the Belly-Slitter” for the trademark punishment she’s said to inflict on disobedient or lazy children,[…]

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#17 Christmas Ghosts

December 24, 2018 boneandsickle Christmas, death, EPISODE, folklore, ghost stories, ghosts, Gothic, history, holidays, horror, legends, Victorian

Traditionally Christmas was a time for ghost stories, and tonight we’re doing our part to bring back the custom. A[…]

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#15 Saint, Devil, Sugar-Bread, & Whip: KRAMPUS AND NICHOLAS

November 28, 2018 boneandsickle Austria, Christmas, EPISODE, folk theater, folklore, Germanic, Germany, history, holidays, Nicholas Plays, pagan, paganism, Perchten, saints, St. Nicholas

The Krampus and St. Nicholas represent a folkloric duality embodying a mode of childrearing the Germans call “sugar-bread and whip”[…]

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